How Many Electrons Will It Take To Equal The Mass of A Helium Nucleus

One electron is a fundamental particle that occupies all of the outermost electron shells in atoms and molecules. In fact, every atom has an outer shell called the valence shell. It’s filled with electrons that are ready to participate in chemical bonds or other chemical processes.

Many experiments have attempted to determine how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a hydrogen nucleus — one proton. The nucleus contains two protons and two neutrons, while an individual neutron only has one proton inside it.

The difference is small enough where you can ignore it, but it’s important if you want to understand atomic mass and isotope ratios better. Let’s see how many electrons will it take to equal the mass of a helium nucleus:

How many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus?

The helium nucleus has two protons and two neutrons, just like the hydrogen nucleus. It also has two electrons in its valence shell. So, how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus?

To get to a mass of two protons and two neutrons, we need two electrons. To get to a mass of two protons and two neutrons plus two electrons, we need four electrons. This process continues, so to get to a mass of one helium nucleus, we need nine electrons.

Helium-4 has two protons and two neutrons

Helium-4 is the isotope of helium with two protons and two neutrons. Using the information from the table, you can calculate how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus.

Helium-4 has two protons and two neutrons, so we need two electrons to equal their mass. To get to a mass of two protons and two neutrons, we need six electrons. This process continues, so to get to a mass of one helium nucleus, we need 12 electrons.

Helium-6 has two protons, two neutrons and two electrons

Helium-6 is the isotope of helium with two protons and two neutrons plus two electrons in the valence shell. Using the information from the table, you can calculate how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus.

Helium-6 is the isotope with two protons and two neutrons plus two electrons in the valence shell. Therefore, we need six electrons to get to a mass of two protons and two neutrons. The helium-6 isotope has two neutrons and two electrons in the valence shell, so we need 12 electrons to get to a mass of one helium nucleus.

Helium-7 has three protons and three neutrons

Helium-7 is the isotope of helium with three protons and three neutrons. The valence shell of helium-7 has four electrons. Using the information from the table, you can calculate how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus.

Helium-7 has three protons and three neutrons. So, we need four electrons to get to a mass of three protons and three neutrons. The valence shell of helium-7 has four electrons, so we need eight electrons to get to a mass of one nucleus.

Helium-8 has four protons, four neutrons and four electrons

Helium-8 is the isotope of helium with four protons, four neutrons and four electrons in the valence shell. Using the information from the table, you can calculate how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus.

Helium-8 is the isotope with four protons, four neutrons and four electrons in the valence shell. So, we need six electrons to get to a mass of four protons, four neutrons and four electrons. The valence shell of helium-8 has 2,8 neutrons and 8 electrons, so we need 12 electrons to get to a mass of one helium nucleus.

Helium-9 has five protons, five neutrons and five electrons

Helium-9 is the isotope of helium with five protons, five neutrons and five electrons in the valence shell. Using the information from the table, you can calculate how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium nucleus.

Helium-9 is the isotope with five protons, five neutrons and five electrons in the valence shell. So, we need eight electrons to get to a mass of five protons, five neutrons and five electrons. The valence shell of helium-9 has 3,2 neutrons and 2 electrons, so we need 12 electrons to get to a mass of one helium nucleus.

Conclusion

If you want to know how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a hydrogen nucleus, multiply the mass of a helium-4 nucleus by two. If you want to know how many electrons are required to equal the mass of a helium-6 nucleus, then multiply the result of this calculation by three.

This can become an extremely confusing number of things to remember. Fortunately, helium-8 is the only helium isotope with a mass of eight electrons in its valence shell.

You can use this information to help you determine isotope ratios. Now, you only need to remember two things: the mass of a helium-8 nucleus is eight electrons, and if you want to know the mass of a hydrogen nucleus, just multiply it by two.